Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has ruled out negotiating with the Greens, as the Federal Government faces an uphill battle to make its emissions trading scheme (ETS) a reality.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the failure of the Copenhagen summit to come up with a binding agreement is vindication of his stance to oppose the Government's plan.

And business is ramping up its demand for more assistance and an emissions reduction limit of just 5 per cent by 2020.

The Greens say the Government's only option is to do a deal with them to get the scheme through the Senate, and are demanding the Government make much deeper cuts to honour the Copenhagen accord.

Senator Wong says the Government cannot support the Greens' proposal.

"The reality is that the Greens have taken a position, in relation to targets, that the Government was not able to negotiate on," Senator Wong said.

"They indicated they did not wish to have a negotiation unless the Government was prepared to put targets of 25 to 40 per cent on the table. That is not the Government's policy, that is not the Government's position.

"We don't believe that is a responsible way forward."

The Government's former climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut, says Australia will have to aim to cut emissions by 25 per cent by 2020, in order to adhere to the Copenhagen accord of keeping the increase in global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.

But Senator Wong says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's position is that Australia will do no more or less than other nations are doing under the accord.

"We've made clear what our target range is, that is dependent on what the rest of the world is prepared to do, and as we work over the coming weeks with other nations who are supporting the Copenhagen Accord, we will be considering very carefully what other nations put forward," she said.

The Government has pledged to cut emissions by 15 per cent if there is an international agreement.

The agreement would have to include pledges by major developing countries to substantially restrain their emissions, alongside advanced economies making the same sort of commitments as Australia.

Senator Wong says Australia is not locked into 15 per cent reductions unless other countries' pledges are made under the Copenhagen accord.

"We have our target range, we will consider what is put forward by the rest of the world under this agreement, and we will do no more and no less," she said.

"We will apply the conditions that have been the subject of a lot of discussion with industry, with business, and also with the environment movement, to determine what is the appropriate target for Australia."

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.